Over the life of this strategy, we will evolve to become truly digital- first in how we think and work.
This means working smartly to streamline our operation, focusing on users’ needs, and being willing to redesign how we deliver our services to better meet those needs (as opposed to just bolting on technology). It also means doing so continuously as needs change and we learn more. Being digital-first is how we will scale up, open up and become more fleet-of-foot as an organisation, so that we achieve more with less and respond rapidly to changes around us.
In practice, we will:
- Adopt modern, cloud-based workplace technologies and develop the skills across our workforce to use them well. This will improve our ability to communicate and collaborate and ensure our staff can work efficiently and productively when and where their job requires them to be.
- Review and cohere all our back-office systems and software, and digitise and automate more of our internal processes. We will ensure technology helps teams across the BFI to deliver the most public benefit possible with the lowest possible overheads.
- Embed a culture and practice of user-centred service design, basing decisions on user research and usage data. This will be enabled by effective and secure systems for collecting, managing and interpreting data insights and sharing them internally to build awareness and empathy.
- Embed a culture and practice of continuous improvement, experimentation and adaptability. By bringing the methods and mindset of agile project management into all parts of the BFI we will iterate our products and services, share goals across organisational boundaries and flex our processes as needed.
- Embrace openness in all that we do, sharing our thinking and progress through our new blog and on social media. We will be visible and accessible individually and collectively online, and seek inspiration and feedback from a wide range of sources.
Finally, it is important to emphasise that digital-first does not mean digital-only. We are acutely aware of the digitally excluded, and will ensure offline support is available for those who need it. Non-digital alternatives will remain available for all relevant services, so that nobody is left behind through lack of access to technology, skills or connectivity.